From ents to tech priests, this artist fuses machinery and organic biomatter to create imaginative fantasy characters

Anastasiya Landasseln is a concept artist, illustrator and creature design teacher from Uzbekistan. She works both digitally in Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint (see our guide to the best digital art software) and with traditional media.

The fusion of living and artificial forms are central to her work, alongside expressive visual storytelling taking real-life studies with a combination of tech and organic inspirations. Below, she talks us through five examples of her work, including two of her many pieces of art for Warhammer 40,000.

Absetzer

Art that blends organic and artificial mechanical forms

(Image credit: Anastasiya Landasseln)

“After visiting a real bucket-wheel excavator, I made this traditional sketch inspired by the experience. It shows a mass of living human biomatter fused with a gigantic industrial machine.”

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Cogitator

(Image credit: Anastasiya Landasseln)

“Cogitators are data-processing machines in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. I approached this piece as a fusion of machinery, ritual, and oppressive atmosphere rather than clean or familiar futuristic technology.”

Adeptus Mechanicus tech-priest

(Image credit: Anastasiya Landasseln)

“This personal piece reflects my fascination with the Adeptus Mechanicus aesthetic, especially the merging of flesh, machinery, and belief. Their cybernetic body modifications make them one of my favourite factions to draw.

Ent concept exploration sketches

(Image credit: Anastasiya Landasseln)

“These sketches explore both male and female Ent designs as I searched for their visual identity. I imagined the Entwives as smaller, more earthbound, arthropod-like."

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Cassia Orsellio

(Image credit: Anastasiya Landasseln)

“This piece depicts a story moment from Cassia Orsellio’s personal quest, in which she encounters one of her Navigator ancestors. I wanted the image to feel mysterious, ceremonial, and charged with the strange atmosphere surrounding her lineage."

You can see more of Anastasiya's work on her ArtStation profile.

This article originally appeared in ImagineFX. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue. Print and digital subscriptions are available.

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